VARANASI: Jo maza na London mein na Fraas mein, woh maza Banaras mein (All the fun is in Banaras, no point in London or France).

Banarasis have many qualities, but self-effacement is not one among them. They know theirs is a special place whichever way you look at it - as Hinduism's holiest, as one of the oldest living cities, or as a tourist hub. On any given day, the lanes that lead up to ghats, the poori-bhaji thelas, the lassi-thandai shops or the tea shop 'adis' - called 'addas' elsewhere - are pulsating with conversation.

The 'adi' conversation always locate Banaras at the centre of the world. So when Narendra Modi announced his candidature from Varanasi - followed by Arvind Kejriwal - Banarasis didn't have to put in too much effort to rise to the occasion. An aspiring PM will spar with the stormy petrel of Indian politics, and it's only natural that their historic city will get to play the judge.

Yet, even by its millennia-old traditions of debate, procession and pomp, what transpired in the last one month was a tad too much for the average Banaarsi to take. VVIPs landing by the droves, teenage volunteers rolling from across the country - some of them without even functional knowledge of Hindi - a posse of global and Indian media, compulsive attention-seekers in hot pursuit of the camera, and of course, a new breed of tourists called poll pilgrims. Their city was under siege, and at the heart of it was two outsiders: Modi and Kejriwal.

On Sunday, the first day after the campaign came to an end, calm returned to the streets and sanity to its 'adis', as the average Banarasi lustily took his city back from a fever that had gripped it for over a month now.

Now Prakash D, IG of Varanasi, is not from Banaras. But he is feeling equally relieved. The whole campaign went along smoothly without any major incidents - despite multiple rallies of lakh-plus crowds mainly populated by outsiders and minor skirmishes between AAP and RSS - largely thanks to the culture of tolerance of this great city, he says.

"Forget everything else, traffic management was the real nightmare here. Roads that can't cope with rickshaw and cycle traffic were being choked up with SUVs and OB vans," says the IG, who hails from Chennai. Every evening, he and his senior officers would walk into the crowds at busy market places, adis and ghats to gauge the pulse.

'CASTLES IN AIR'

Surendra Singh is from Banaras. The daily wage worker too is happy the whole circus has packed up and left the town, but feels no one has taken the real pulse of Banaras. "This is a city that will make up its mind the night before polls. All your calculations are just castles in air," says Singh, sipping his sugary tea.

If you want to check the veracity of that statement, all you need to do is visit a party office: BJP's at Sigra Crossing, Congress' next to the Sigra Police Station, or AAP's in the residential area of Shivaji Nagar, Mehmoorganj.

The faces you meet here are tired, for obvious reasons, but what keeps them up is the average Banarasi's notorious tendency to change sides without a moment's notice.

One can see the same person arguing for Modi-as-PM in the morning, walking along wearing an AAP cap in the afternoon and goading bystanders in the evening to consider Congress' Ajai Rai as the option since he is the only local boy in the ring. Political positions don't matter so long as you let him chat you up.

"Make no mistake, this is a city that lives by the mantra of status-quo," says Kashinath Singh, author of the celebrated book Kashi Ka Assi. Singh says Banaras doesn't differentiate between locals and outsiders, and argues that it is the only non-metropolis with representative communities from all ethnicities in India.

"People from rural areas may look at a local candidate. But in this city no one cares where you are from," says Singh who believes that Modi has a definite edge.

Singh is being miserly there about Modi's chances, if you ask around. Out here not many are in doubt who will win from Varanasi, their only interest is in seeing who will come second: Kejriwal or Rai.

SEE-SAWING OF PERCEPTIONS

The last few days had seen intense see-sawing of perceptions that at stage put Kejriwal's campaign on par with Modi's, and if you ask a "adi intellectual" it was just a matter of Muslims voting en masse on broom that could deflate Modi's Varanasi balloon.

Yet, Rahul Gandhi and Rai punctured that on Saturday with an impressive roadshow, and now no one seems to know if the minority votes - 3.5 lakh out of the 15-lakh odd total votes - will go for AAP, Congress or will get split in the middle.

On his part, the mufti of Varanasi city Abdul Bathin Noomani says the community will stand with Kejriwal this time. "While I have not given a call or announced any party or candidate, it seems that our request of voting one sided, to prevent a split in the votes, will benefit Kejriwal the most," he says in as subtle terms as he can put it.